Posted on: Thursday, January 20, 2005

SHOW BIZ
Maui dining spot becomes Hollywood west

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

ABOUT PEOPLE: A huge group of out-of-towners descended upon Sansei Seafood Restaurant & Sushi Bar in Kihei, Maui, last week. Among the diners: actor Ben Stiller, actress Laura Dern, singer Ben Harper, surfer/water guru Laird Hamilton and Gabrielle Reece, his model/volleyball-player wife. ...

Phil Donahue, the veteran talk-show host, was a star-gazer when he visited the Big Island. He and pals, with the aid of Hawai'i Forest & Trails, took the Mauna Kea Summit Tour and viewed planets and constellations while drinking hot Kona coffee and eating macadamia chocolate-chip cookies as a post-birthday celebration. ...

Carol Channing ("Hello, Dolly!") disembarks the Crystal Serenity cruise ship today, a week before her Hawai'i Theatre performances Jan. 28 and 29. And Channing says her old pal, Julie Andrews ("Mary Poppins," "The Sound of Music," "Princess Diaries") will be aboard. Andrews is continuing on to Tahiti. ...

NAMES 'N' FACES: Deejay Kamasami Kong, who does his radio shows from Osaka, Japan, on Mondays through Thursdays, has added Tokyo on weekends. Kong took in the Narcissus Festival queen contest to cheer on emcee Frank B. Shaner, a longtime pal. ...

Freddie Lee marks his 80th birthday gala tomorrow at the Dole Cannery Ballroom with an "intimate" party of about 300. ...

When visitor Robert Rhea celebrated his 73rd birthday Sunday at the Halekulani's Garden Terrace, he enlisted long-time favorite Kit Samson to man the piano. Dr. Derek Pang, the St. Francis cardiologist, sang romantic tunes. Rhea and wife Ida are ensconced at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental. ...

Former Honolulu residents Steve and Suzanne Diamond spent the Christmas holidays on an interisland cruise with daughter Alexandra and her husband, Craig Conover (along with other family members). They returned to California, then turned around to return for Cecilia Blackfield's 90th birthday, attended the Sony Open with Gulab and Indru Watumull, and took in Compadres' 21st anniversary party. They were amused to wake up Sunday to read The Advertiser's travel story on Carmel, where they have an oceanfront home. The Diamonds also took in that delightful road film, "Sideways," at the Varsity Theatre. ...

SHORTS OF SORTS: Keith and Carmen Haugen, performing at the Pacific Beach Hotel, continue to attract fans and friends of Hawaiian music. Among those taking the stage in recent weeks: Gary Aiko, Alan Akaka, Kanoe Arola, Rhonda, Ron Tish, Don Humphrey, Gordon Manuel Freitas, steel guitarist Palani Baum of Germany (who performed every night while here for several weeks). Also singing: the Rev. Fred McGowan, the Massachusetts priest, who is well known in Waikiki as a singer of Hawaiian songs. ...

Pacific 'O restaurant in Lahaina, Maui, bought lunch for all the captains and organizers — about 40 — of the Lahaina chapter of the Cancer Society's Relay for Life last Saturday. It was a gesture of appreciation for hard work, said restaurant partner Stephan Bel-Robert. ... And the staffs of Pacific 'O, I'o and The Feast at Lele — all Maui restaurants — started their new year by donating $600 to the Save the Children Tsunami Fund. ...

When Chief Warrant Officer Vaughn Fekette from Schofield Barracks took his family to dinner at Auntie Pasto's the other night, an anonymous diner paid the bill, without saying hello or goodbye. ...

ALOHA LIVES: A 1992 video, "Kaua'i Aloha," originally done to raise money for Kaua'i's Hurricane 'Iniki victims, has been revived in relief efforts for the Indian Ocean tsunami. A Sri Lanka conglomerate, the Maharaja Corp., bought rights to David Kawika Talisman's video featuring original music by Talisman, Lester Gantan, Glenn Medeiros and Titus Kinimaka, with a new trilingual soundtrack (Sinhalese, Tamil and English) to increase awareness of the disaster and to fuel donations and support. The song is becoming a major hit in Sri Lanka, thanks to radio and TV airings that have propelled the relief efforts. Talisman earlier was tapped by Killi Rajamahendran, a Sri Lankan official, who visited here when the "Kaua'i Aloha" video played on Consolidated movie screens. Talisman later visited the island country to produce an inspirational video, "The Courage to be Different," to help rebuild the company after Tamil rebels burned it down — a process that took 10 years. Images of Hawai'i continue to help in the current wave of support. ...

And that's Show Biz. ...

Show Biz is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, or fax 525-8055.